The signing of the agreement
between Uruguay and the United States of America establishes
the US-Uruguayan Joint Commission on Trade and Investment.
Said bilateral instrument regulates the objectives and guidelines
of the aforementioned commission. The text was inspired
by talks between Uruguayan President Jorge Batlle during
his recent visit to President George Bush in Washington,
DC on January 15. US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick
spearheaded the writing of said text.
The aforementioned document will be signed
by the Interim Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uruguay, Ambassador
Guillermo Valles, and by the Assistant US Trade Representative
for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Regina Vargo.
Immediately following the signing, the participants
will give brief statements.
Remarks by Interim Minister of Foreign
Affairs, Ambassador Valles:
Madame Assistant US Trade Representative
for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Regina Vargo, Ambassadors,
US Ambassador to Uruguay Martin J. Silverstein, Uruguayan
Ambassador to the US, Hugo Fernández Feingold, Isidoro
Hodara, General Coordinator for Uruguay, ladies and gentlemen,
friends, members of the press:
In the name of the Government of Uruguay,
and on behalf of Foreign Minister Opertti, we have just
signed not a routine document but something more. This document
carries a bit of importance; we could define its importance,
but perhaps history will define it better than we. It [the
agreement] is the establishment, the formation of a joint
commission. We have many joint bilateral commissions, including
with the United States. This [agreement], furthermore, is
the fruition of the will of the two Presidents for a political
dialogue undertaken a few short weeks ago. As a result,
it [the agreement] is the result of a common goal shared
by both Presidents Bush and Battle and was laid out in more
concrete terms by President Bush’s Trade Representative,
Robert Zoellick.
This agreement will serve specifically as
a bilateral conduit to deal with all, repeat all, bilateral
trade and investment issues. There’s a phrase in English
that I mentioned to Ms Regina Vargo in our working group,
"The sky’s the limit." Only the sky can
limit us or, the sky will set the limit.
This is the proposition of the Uruguayan
government; we hope it will also be that of the US government.
In this joint commission, we have a forum in which to make
our needs known. For Uruguay, it is the need to develop
economically. The only conduit Uruguay has to create jobs
is through trade, seeking opportunities for trade, not only
in Mercosur, as we have said, but also beyond Mercosur,
without limits nor preconceived notions of any kind. There
are no abstract commercial norms, no abstract or vague terms,
but rather opportunities for more jobs for our people. This
agreement, moreover, has meaning beyond trade. What we signed
will certainly help both sides contribute to a better dialogue
in international trade.
Just a few moments ago, we commented to Ms
Vargo that one of the successes of the Doha Round of the
World Trade Organization a few months ago was precisely
the possibility of establishing a bilateral dialogue more
cognizant of all countries’ needs. I am sure that
there will also be repercussions on how much we can contribute
to strengthening international trade. There are, therefore,
opportunities that we alone will have to take on. We alone,
along with the Uruguayan private sector and politicians
from both countries, will be responsible for examining the
ways in which we can grow together so that our economy,
the Uruguayan economy in such great need of markets, can
find the right tools to attain this objective. These are
the contents of this agreement; these are our aspirations.
Perhaps that is why this is the first step along a long
path.
Thank you very much.
Remarks by Assistant US Trade Representative,
Regina Vargo:
Thank you very much, Guillermo. Let me just
add to that opening how much we welcome this opportunity
to work with Uruguay, which we have found to be such excellent
partner on so many different fronts. We find that with Uruguay
we share a commonality of views, and I think a deep desire
on both parts to liberalize trade further and find a way
for our citizens to benefit from that liberalization. We
already had a rich dialogue on trade with Uruguay in the
WTO, in the FTAA, in our 4 + 1 discussions, and this is
one more avenue, one more door, that we can open. So as
the Ambassador [Valles] has said, we can address the full
range of issues between us. We agreed today on a very ambitious
schedule of meetings and work for the remainder of this
year, and I think we are going to get to know each other
even better. Thank you.
Q&A:
Q: How does this fit into
the 4 + 1? Do you think this might have any negative repercussions
on Mercosur?
Vargo: No, I don't see any
negative repercussions from enhancing a dialogue with Uruguay.
There are issues that Uruguay has or that the U.S. would
like to have addressed that are truly of a bilateral nature.
And this will offer us the opportunity to devote the time,
resources, and a high level attention to those issues as
well to establish a very frequent source of communication
and contact with one another so that we can also enhance
our working relationship together on issues of mutual concern,
whether they be sub-regional, directed towards the FTAA,
or our work in the WTO.
Q: Gustavo Sáenz
from Channel 4. This question goes to Ms Vargo. Before leaving
for Costa Rica, President Batlle stated that the United
States, unfortunately, was not going to be able to buy twice
the amount of beef that it is purchasing now from Uruguay,
and that this [issue] was going to be taken up in the WTO.
But, in fact, it was President Bush's intention or desire
to be in a position to make those additional purchases.
How do you see this issue?
Vargo: I think that we through
this new channel that we've just opened we can better understand
what the aspirations of Uruguay are and what the opportunities
are. Sometimes our trade obligations entail a network of
factors that we have to take into account, and that's why
we are trying to pursue these opportunities at every level.
Valles: I would like to
add, because in some way the following will also answer
your question and the previous one. Let's suppose we are
at a station where there are four trains. There's a WTO
train, a 4+1 train, an FTAA train and, fortunately, a Uruguay-U.S.
train. I don't know which will be the first one to arrive
at the station. The important thing here is that Uruguay
has these four trains, and that with these four trains,
we are defending Uruguay's needs.
Vargo: I think we've just
added a train track! [laughter and applause]
Valles: I hope it's a fast
track! [laughter and applause]
Q: Channel 10, Pablo Silvera.
This question is for Dr. Valles. Given the experience in
this type of treaty, what are prospects? When can this agreement
be reached, and when can these bilateral relations start?
Valles: Talking about the
final stage, talking just about what I was saying, when
we get to the final stage. What is important is that we
have decided that this train will make one stop in May in
Washington, when we will establish the working groups and
the agenda for the remainder of 2002. Furthermore, we agreed
with Ms Vargo that we will meet not only to define an agenda
but also, beginning today through May, we will exchange
ideas through our embassies. We have also made progress
on how we will organize the work and what we will do from
now on until the end of 2002 to be able to give our blessing,
so to speak, at our next meeting in May. If you are asking
when we will start exporting more goods or when the United
States export more to this country, that is obviously an
answer that neither this train, nor any others, can give
you.
Q: Anahi Rama from Reuters.
For Ms Vargo: it's clear that what Uruguay wants out of
these talks is to be able to sell more, export more to the
United States. But what's in it for the U.S.? We are talking
about a market of only 3.2 million people.
Vargo: Well, if the United
States were only to look at the size of markets, there would
be very few other countries in the world with which we would
be having a dialogue. There are some issues that we would
like to take up with Uruguay during these talks; copyrights
might serve as one example. But we've actually been increasing
our contacts and work with Uruguay over the last year to
fight intensively. Most recently, in the run-up to the DOHA
round, Uruguay played a very important role in that and
an important role in making it a success. And it makes sense
that we should want to enhance our relations and seek those
mutual goals in the interest of both countries that are
like-minded, which have the same basic interests and outlook
that I think we do. That trade will be a very important
avenue for economic growth, for economic development. We
have a large stake. We have a large stake in this region,
and we would like to work with Uruguay to find a way to
move forward together.
Q: For Ms Vargo, Rafael
Guarga, TVEO Informa, Channel 5. What are the requirements
that the U.S. is setting to move ahead on this agreement
with Uruguay?
Vargo: We've established
no prior requirements on our work together. What we've done
since the visit of President Batlle to Washington, when
he spoke with President Bush and with Ambassador Zoellick,
is we just need to attempt to focus in on some topics that
we thought we could usefully discuss in the course of the
next year; we haven't taken our mission as to set requirements
up front but rather to try to get results.
Q: For Ms Vargo. Daniel
Peca, El Observador. What is the status of the negotiations
with Chile at this point?
Vargo: Well, I just actually
came from Chile; we just had a meeting there for several
days. This particular meeting focused particularly on market
access and issues concerning SPS [sanitary and phyto-sanitary]
issues. And I think the sense on all sides is that we made
progress.
Valles: Truly, this bit
of information comes from Ms Vargo, but my understanding
is that Chile is successful with its negotiations with the
United States and with the European Union as well. I am
very pleased about this, and we see an interesting mirror
in which we see ourselves, always respecting each other's
idiosyncrasies.
Q: Carlos Castillo, German
Press Agency. The question is for Ms Vargo. The question
is about intellectual property rights and what U.S. companies
are going through at this point.
Vargo: Let me just say in
a general way that as we all work together on these trade
agreements, it is important that we move forward with the
agreements. We would like to see Uruguay bring its laws
up to compliance with the trip's obligations from the WTO.
And regarding copyrights in particular, copyright and software,
I think this is an area where both the United States and
Uruguay could benefit from these changes. Uruguay is beginning
to make its own move, I think, into export markets with
software. And I think this will increase the likelihood
of success on that front if they are doing so with a modern
package of intellectual property rights law.
Q: Lucas Hernández,
France Press. This question is for both of you. To what
extent can this type of agreement influence the political
arena? In other words, will this improve the political relationship
between the two countries? And if so, to what extent? Will
this enhance the political bonds between the two countries?
Vargo: I cannot see any
way to do anything other than help. And certainly, this
is our objective.
Valles: I totally agree
with that. I was just saying that in ancient Greek mythology,
the god of diplomacy was also the god of trade. It's good
for countries to understand each other politically and economically.
It's good for countries to speak to each other face to face,
even when they dissent politically and economically. This
is what we are doing.
Thanks to all in the media for coming.
End of transcript
